It's here! The one month out of the year when other people, writers,
get as obsessive as I do over daily word counts, fictitious people,
screwy plot twists and plot bunnies. My husband says that I turn
certifiable this time of year. I reply, "How is that different from any
other time?"
So because it's November and I'm posting
this now, between writing sessions, it definately counts as
procrastination in my book! Now I probably should be procrastinating in
some other way since my wrists are starting to get that familiar
November ache but I had put off post here long enough. This year's NaNo
has started with some difficulty for me. We lost power here due to a
early and very wet snow storm. Having been relocated to my mother's
house where there is power but much less child proofing has been a
blessing and a curse. At home my son and I can play in the living room
together. Rather, he plays and I write until he deigns to play with me.
It works well because we have two gate that keep him from getting into
trouble in the kitchen or bathroom. My mother doesn't have those
protections and she has the added temptation of stairs. Today, for
instance, I've been writing in fits and starts. Now I'm not the fastest
typist in the world and I have issues turning off my inner editor to
begin with so my steady writing pace is nothing spectacular. I do tend
to do better when in a word war because then I feel like something is at
risk. I do even better when coffee or chocolate are on the line! Though
what I tell everyone who asks me how I do it I simply tell them that
it's one word at a time and the best thing is just to start. So I'm
starting..my goal is for the first week (possibly two) to write two
thousand words a day. It's a little more than the required 1,667 words a
day but enough so that I can build a buffer over a number of days for
the inevitable Thanksgiving day 0-word count that will happen.
Well I'd better get back to writing! Good luck fellow writers! See you in December!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Revision or Did I Really Write That?
Revision is important. You learn it in grade school and it gets drilled into you throughout high school and college. It's purpose is to catch your mistakes, make the necessary grammar and punctuation corrections etc.
That's the bare bones of revision. To each person it's a different kind of step. Some people love it, some hate it. Feelings don't really matter in this case, it has to be done one way or the other. Personally it's not my favorite but I know it's necessary. Not to mention that my writing style is more of the write it all down and revise later approach. Not to mention that when I get an idea it tends to come fast and furious into my head so I don't think too much about what I'm typing. This leads to all kinds of silly continuity issues. That said, there's only so much that a writer can catch on their own work. It comes to a point when you need other eyes to look at your work. Even after revising twice my writing group that critiqued my piece found a basket that appeared out of nowhere and a character that materialized out of thin air...oops! Revision isn't easy but I see it as a necessary evil and if you have a good group of writers like a writing group that support you I think that helps a lot!
That's the bare bones of revision. To each person it's a different kind of step. Some people love it, some hate it. Feelings don't really matter in this case, it has to be done one way or the other. Personally it's not my favorite but I know it's necessary. Not to mention that my writing style is more of the write it all down and revise later approach. Not to mention that when I get an idea it tends to come fast and furious into my head so I don't think too much about what I'm typing. This leads to all kinds of silly continuity issues. That said, there's only so much that a writer can catch on their own work. It comes to a point when you need other eyes to look at your work. Even after revising twice my writing group that critiqued my piece found a basket that appeared out of nowhere and a character that materialized out of thin air...oops! Revision isn't easy but I see it as a necessary evil and if you have a good group of writers like a writing group that support you I think that helps a lot!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
WOO! A Character Sketch!
So you may notice a few different things on my blog. One is the obvious advertisement space to the right. What can I say? With money being so tight right now I figured why not if it'll help gain a few extra dollars?
The other exciting addition is the lovely illustration of my intended main character for this year's NaNoWriMo. This was graciously done for free by Kerynean and you should really check out her stuff! It's AMAZING! I'm hoping to put a larger version in this post if she has one for me so look for an update!
Also if you haven't looked at it yet, you should check out the new NaNoWriMo site! So far it's been faster and better than the last! So take a look and hopefully we can convince you to write with us in November! You'll also notice the cool new NaNo badge on my site for this year. So really, go check it out!
The other exciting addition is the lovely illustration of my intended main character for this year's NaNoWriMo. This was graciously done for free by Kerynean and you should really check out her stuff! It's AMAZING! I'm hoping to put a larger version in this post if she has one for me so look for an update!
Also if you haven't looked at it yet, you should check out the new NaNoWriMo site! So far it's been faster and better than the last! So take a look and hopefully we can convince you to write with us in November! You'll also notice the cool new NaNo badge on my site for this year. So really, go check it out!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Life and Moving Interferences
My writing has been on a sort of hiatus recently. I have not been posting to my blogs as regularly as I would like and a lot of other things have been put on hold too due to difficulties with our new house. We had planned on moving last week but that got put on hold and now the builder has asked for yet another extension. Unfortunately my writing has taken a back seat to hounding my contractor, real estate agent and packing. I'm hoping that things will get back to normal soon and that we'll have a definite closing date by tomorrow. In the mean time this blog and my others are on the back burner. It's probably just as well since I've been thinking that I'm going to move to a one post a week model. Two for each was a little too ambitious and I want to spend more time working on my novels than on blogs. Not to mention I still have to move and get my sewing shop set up.
On another note I have picked my idea for NaNo this year. It's based on the writing prompt from the Forward Motion writer's community. The base of it is a non-magical person in a magical world. How would they cope and the repercussions. I had the beginnings of an idea that I'm just starting to flush out with character descriptions, location maps and candy bar scenes (more on those later). All in all I'm quite excited about this particular idea and I find myself having to refrain from starting to write it! I suppose that's a good thing, steam for the upcoming November! Well I suppose I should be off to bed. Keep writing everyone!
On another note I have picked my idea for NaNo this year. It's based on the writing prompt from the Forward Motion writer's community. The base of it is a non-magical person in a magical world. How would they cope and the repercussions. I had the beginnings of an idea that I'm just starting to flush out with character descriptions, location maps and candy bar scenes (more on those later). All in all I'm quite excited about this particular idea and I find myself having to refrain from starting to write it! I suppose that's a good thing, steam for the upcoming November! Well I suppose I should be off to bed. Keep writing everyone!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Genre Bending or Breaking?
Walk into any bookstore and you'll find all of the latest books sorted into these perfect little categories. Fiction, Non-Fiction, Biography, Fantasy, Romance are all nicely printed in bold letters on placards scattered about the store. More and more frequently I have been seeing books that merge genres or in some cases encompass elements of so many that I can't quite place where they actually belong. I think of these latter examples as genre breakers. Certainly they will have a little more of one than another ad that's what most bookstores publishers list them as. As a writer I tend to simply write when I get an idea. Nine times out of ten I won't label it until I'm through. I may intend for it to be a romance but it may wind up as a mystery. I suppose that's what comes of be a fly by the seat of your pants type of writer, or "pantser"as people in NaNoWriMo call it.
As to what happens to those writers that ignore the genres: they get a broader reader base. At least that's what I've witnessed. Bookstores don't know what to do with a sci-fi psychological horror romance. Their solution, in my experience, is to place a few copies of the book in each of the relevant sections. As a reader it's kind of nice. I may be feeling the need for some romance but who's to say that I would mind some excitement thrown in. As a writer I don't think I would mind it either. More sales equals more recognition and more money in my pocket. I suppose deep down I personally have never really held to labeling my work one thing or another. I suppose I'll leave that to the reader or publisher. For me it's always been about writing what ever I have in my head and let me tell you that is a very messy disorganized place!
Today’s post was inspired by the topic “Genre-bending - what happens when writers ignore the boundaries of bookstore categories” — the opening question in the inaugural cycle of the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour — an ongoing tour where you, the reader, travel around the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. We have all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy. The next post in the tour will be on the 1st, by Alex Fayle. Be sure to check it out.
If you want to get to know nearly twenty other writers and find out where they got their latest ideas, check out the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour. You can find links to all of the posts on the tour by checking out the group site. Read and enjoy!
As to what happens to those writers that ignore the genres: they get a broader reader base. At least that's what I've witnessed. Bookstores don't know what to do with a sci-fi psychological horror romance. Their solution, in my experience, is to place a few copies of the book in each of the relevant sections. As a reader it's kind of nice. I may be feeling the need for some romance but who's to say that I would mind some excitement thrown in. As a writer I don't think I would mind it either. More sales equals more recognition and more money in my pocket. I suppose deep down I personally have never really held to labeling my work one thing or another. I suppose I'll leave that to the reader or publisher. For me it's always been about writing what ever I have in my head and let me tell you that is a very messy disorganized place!
Today’s post was inspired by the topic “Genre-bending - what happens when writers ignore the boundaries of bookstore categories” — the opening question in the inaugural cycle of the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour — an ongoing tour where you, the reader, travel around the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. We have all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy. The next post in the tour will be on the 1st, by Alex Fayle. Be sure to check it out.
If you want to get to know nearly twenty other writers and find out where they got their latest ideas, check out the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour. You can find links to all of the posts on the tour by checking out the group site. Read and enjoy!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Writing for a Blog
I've been writing for my blogs now for some time and I have to say it's by far some of the most difficult writing I've done. Writing for a daily audience is trying. My website blog is by far the most difficult. I write about my research and while being informative I also find myself having to be entertaining to keep the interest of my readers. Balancing humor with fact is like walking on a fine wire.
I write three of my own blogs including this one, each tackling a different topic. This one, my writing, and my others cover my thoughts on motherhood and family life and lastly, my business. My family life blog is by far the easiest. I can vent there and mull things out "on paper," so to speak. This blog is a tad more difficult for me as I try to put some thought behind my posts though I do sometimes give in to the need to rant a few times. Especially when I hit writer's blocks or some such thing. My last blog is on my business website and I'm trying to use it to draw people to my website which, hopefully, will get them to look at the products I'm offering. To that end I try to sound more authoritative and decisive in my posts. That's not an easy thing for me since I'm not one of those people that has a natural knack for selling ideas. In short as a self-promoter I stink. I try the best I can though and with a little sarcastic humor I get by!
I write three of my own blogs including this one, each tackling a different topic. This one, my writing, and my others cover my thoughts on motherhood and family life and lastly, my business. My family life blog is by far the easiest. I can vent there and mull things out "on paper," so to speak. This blog is a tad more difficult for me as I try to put some thought behind my posts though I do sometimes give in to the need to rant a few times. Especially when I hit writer's blocks or some such thing. My last blog is on my business website and I'm trying to use it to draw people to my website which, hopefully, will get them to look at the products I'm offering. To that end I try to sound more authoritative and decisive in my posts. That's not an easy thing for me since I'm not one of those people that has a natural knack for selling ideas. In short as a self-promoter I stink. I try the best I can though and with a little sarcastic humor I get by!
Monday, August 29, 2011
FM Merry-Go-Round Tour: Where Did I Get My Latest Idea
Ideas are like grass and I'm the cow. No, really!
There are so many things around me that cry out to be turned into stories that I never have only one project in process. I take one from here, another from over there and, oh look! There's a great one further that way! I call it my writer's ADD. My husband calls them my "Ooo! Shiny!" moments. My ideas come from paintings, people, phrases or quotes, pictures and places. Though I am rather like a bird that flits from one sparkly object to another, they tend to stick with me for a while once I do have it in my head.
Back to the cow analogy. Once I have an idea it can sit in my head for a long while before I commit it to paper. Sometimes I start writing right away and then put it aside because I'm not done thinking it through. Like a good cow, I like to chew my cud. One story I've been working on for over eight years. It's been great writing and it's kind of like my baby blanket of writing...I work on it when everything else has me too work up to think about. That particular story idea came to me out of nowhere...infact it's been so long I can't remember if it was a dream or something else entirely.
My latest idea came to me while I was visiting England. I was at a museum and there was a beautiful bust of Josephine de Beauharnais (Napoleon's first wife) that I stared at for a solid fifteen minutes. The picture to the right is the bust in question. Her face looked so kind but regal and somehow sad and my mind began to wonder what it would be like to meet her as a woman of today and she, a woman of the past. All of the Napoleonic era interests me from a costumer's standpoint but the people of Napoleon's court must have been equally as fascinating. That's the wonderful thing about writing. The best thing, I think. You can go anywhere and meet anyone you like because they're all there at the tip of your pen....or cursor as the case may be.
Today’s post was inspired by the topic “Where I got my latest idea” — the opening question in the inaugural cycle of the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour — an ongoing tour where you, the reader, travel around the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. We have all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy. The next post in the tour will be on the 1st, by Alex Fayle. Be sure to check it out.
If you want to get to know nearly twenty other writers and find out where they got their latest ideas, check out the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour. You can find links to all of the posts on the tour by checking out the group site. Read and enjoy!
There are so many things around me that cry out to be turned into stories that I never have only one project in process. I take one from here, another from over there and, oh look! There's a great one further that way! I call it my writer's ADD. My husband calls them my "Ooo! Shiny!" moments. My ideas come from paintings, people, phrases or quotes, pictures and places. Though I am rather like a bird that flits from one sparkly object to another, they tend to stick with me for a while once I do have it in my head.
Back to the cow analogy. Once I have an idea it can sit in my head for a long while before I commit it to paper. Sometimes I start writing right away and then put it aside because I'm not done thinking it through. Like a good cow, I like to chew my cud. One story I've been working on for over eight years. It's been great writing and it's kind of like my baby blanket of writing...I work on it when everything else has me too work up to think about. That particular story idea came to me out of nowhere...infact it's been so long I can't remember if it was a dream or something else entirely.
 |
| Josephine By Joseph Chinard |
Today’s post was inspired by the topic “Where I got my latest idea” — the opening question in the inaugural cycle of the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour — an ongoing tour where you, the reader, travel around the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. We have all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy. The next post in the tour will be on the 1st, by Alex Fayle. Be sure to check it out.
If you want to get to know nearly twenty other writers and find out where they got their latest ideas, check out the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour. You can find links to all of the posts on the tour by checking out the group site. Read and enjoy!
Friday, August 19, 2011
Rather Unsuccessful
I attempted to take part in Camp NaNoWriMo this month and I have failed epically. Between shopping for appliances, flooring, etc for the new house, trying to plan and pack for a vacation and pack up the condo I just haven't had two seconds to sit and type. My son has also begun teething again and he's transitioning to one nap a day. The end result? No time for mommy to write. I'm hoping that this won't be a mark against me as I would like to apply to be an ML for November NaNoWriMo. I'm disappointed in myself and wonder if I'll be able to do it in November. We'll see.
I'm still working on my Napoleon story but I'm also bending my writing skill to my blog posts for my website. I've taken the advice of a friend of mine who has had an internet presences for a while. He said to me "start with a blog even if you don't have product up yet." I took his advice and received a few positive comments. I'm abnormally pleased but I I have had more spam and some comments I'm not sure if they are spam or actual feedback which is sad. But! People are reading it and it's getting noticed and that's the whole point of the endeavor. Well I have to get back to packing...
I'm still working on my Napoleon story but I'm also bending my writing skill to my blog posts for my website. I've taken the advice of a friend of mine who has had an internet presences for a while. He said to me "start with a blog even if you don't have product up yet." I took his advice and received a few positive comments. I'm abnormally pleased but I I have had more spam and some comments I'm not sure if they are spam or actual feedback which is sad. But! People are reading it and it's getting noticed and that's the whole point of the endeavor. Well I have to get back to packing...
Friday, August 12, 2011
Working Against the House
It's been a fast week and no one knows it better than me. I was hoping to get all kinds of writing done on vacation but that of course didn't happen. Best laid plans and all that. During my week vacation at my mom's we had visitors, my son had the most impossible diaper rash and went through some nasty teething moments. I think at this point I just have to face the facts that my challenge for Camp NaNoWriMo is just not going to be met. This weekend my hubby and I are going shopping for appliances for the new house and we have the yearly company BBQ. Next Saturday we're leaving for vacation. I just am going to say that I am not going to be able to finish the challenge this month. It's kind of funny because I always thought that November was the most difficult time that you could do it. Apparently I was wrong. Perhaps it's the support from other writers for the month of November. At this point I haven't even worked on any posts for my website....not good news.
Camp NaNoWriMo is a great idea and I was thrilled but I think that the hardest part of it is that you don't have the support like you do in November. In November we have write-ins and forums right there for you. Camp NaNo is not quite there. While "Cabins" are a great idea in theory I feel like the ML's are needed here too. It's a lot to ask of one person. To keep being ML for all the months of the year but I feel like there has to be a way around it. A way to have ML's without burning out a single person with the burden of it all.
Camp NaNoWriMo is a great idea and I was thrilled but I think that the hardest part of it is that you don't have the support like you do in November. In November we have write-ins and forums right there for you. Camp NaNo is not quite there. While "Cabins" are a great idea in theory I feel like the ML's are needed here too. It's a lot to ask of one person. To keep being ML for all the months of the year but I feel like there has to be a way around it. A way to have ML's without burning out a single person with the burden of it all.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Banner
So this is for purely selfish reasons. I decided to design a banner for my blog. It's nothing fancy but I wanted to be able to add it to my signature for NaNo and other forums that I belong to. Here's the beta below:
What do you think?
What do you think?
Monday, August 1, 2011
Last Minute Idea
So I realize I haven't posted lately. Sorry! I've been busy doing writing of another kind: blog posts of my research for my website: http://athreadtofollow.com. I've been trying to get ahead so that when we move in September and I'm doing NaNoWriMo in November, I don't have to worry about anything jsut sechdule the posts to be published at regular intervals. Today for the fist time since the beginning of July I looked in on the Camp NaNoWriMo site. I poked around and all of a sudden an idea that been on the back burner in my mind started to gush out. So! It looks like I'm going to write for this month's camp after all.
This time I'm going for a Historical Fiction taking palace in Napoleonic times. Time travel and a snarky, insightful Boneparte. It's still just something rattling around in my brain so we'll see. It may end up just being a proposal that I use to write my actual Nano novel this year.
This time I'm going for a Historical Fiction taking palace in Napoleonic times. Time travel and a snarky, insightful Boneparte. It's still just something rattling around in my brain so we'll see. It may end up just being a proposal that I use to write my actual Nano novel this year.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Relationship Charts or I'm Not Very Politic
As I have been looking at my NaNoWrimo novel that I wrote last year (it's still not finished) I realized that the book is turning out to have more politics than anything else I have written before. I quickly realized as I was re-reading it that I was going to need some help keeping track of my character's political machinations. To that end I posted a request on a few of my regular writer's forums as well as on NaNoWriMo forums.
I was a bit disappointed when some of the replies were sarcastically mean. In general writer's communities can be quite helpful and so I was shocked to receive such replies. Sadly it wasn't just one either. I felt like my faith was restored in the helpfulness of one writer to another when on the NaNoWriMo forums I received a post that actually helped.
Now I was never really taught to use relationship charts for drafting novels but it can be a very useful tool. Keep in mind that the one below is only an example. I'll try to remember to take a picture of my when I'm done and upload it into another post. The link I received led me to the picture below:
So I'm not writing about the X-men but this is a great look at how a relationship chart works. Clearly the creator of this chart picked Wolverine as his starting point, just like I would choose my central character, and connected all the people that had significance to him with different colored "threads." The different colors indicate the type of relationship that they have with each person. In the end the notation is all up to you but I thought to post this in case anyone else had the same issue. I hope it helps and keep on writing!
I was a bit disappointed when some of the replies were sarcastically mean. In general writer's communities can be quite helpful and so I was shocked to receive such replies. Sadly it wasn't just one either. I felt like my faith was restored in the helpfulness of one writer to another when on the NaNoWriMo forums I received a post that actually helped.
Now I was never really taught to use relationship charts for drafting novels but it can be a very useful tool. Keep in mind that the one below is only an example. I'll try to remember to take a picture of my when I'm done and upload it into another post. The link I received led me to the picture below:
So I'm not writing about the X-men but this is a great look at how a relationship chart works. Clearly the creator of this chart picked Wolverine as his starting point, just like I would choose my central character, and connected all the people that had significance to him with different colored "threads." The different colors indicate the type of relationship that they have with each person. In the end the notation is all up to you but I thought to post this in case anyone else had the same issue. I hope it helps and keep on writing!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Revelation
I have finally reached a decision concerning the debate I was having with myself over the past week. I have decided tot take a day and plug my lengthy 50k novel into Storybook. The politics and characters are getting so involved that I'm beginning to have a hard time keeping track of them. The details are getting hard to keep straight so we'll see how it goes with Storybook!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Mid-Week Decisions
So I was looking on the chat boards for my writing group the other day and I noticed that there were about four or five people who were from the north. As a result they were not able to make the weekly meetings because Marlborough is just too far for them. As my husband and I were walking back from our local pharmacy I decided that I needed more writing time out of the house and so I put together a bit of a last minute meet-up in our current town. We are far enough north to many of the members of our writing group that three of them have said they will come. I am hoping that I can arrange to have it every other week so that they alternate with those in Marlborough. It will be beneficial to the group to get a few more people involved and beneficial to me to get my word count up!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Debate
Today I'm having a bit of a debate with myself. Due to the inaccuracies that I keep finding in my story that I wrote for NaNoWriMo I am thinking that it may be in best interest to plug in my current work into Storybook. Storybook is a great piece of Open Source software that helps you track your character's details, location and more. It will even generate charts for you letting you see a timeline easily or where your characters are at any point in your timeline.
My only hesitation comes from the fact that I would have to plug in 50k words and think about chapters now rather than later when I'm done with the project. It would take me the better part of the evening I think to plug it all in. It might be something better done on the weekend on second thought. It would go faster and I would be more accurate with my hubby taking care of our 14 month old.
Speaking of software: I've finally figured out how to download my documents onto my iPad into Pages, the iPad equivalent of Office Word. It's not very direct and Apple really is into making money since the only way to make a direct save is to go pay for their iDisk service. A whopping $99 per year for the same service that Google offers for free. All in all I love the iPad but the small things like this and flash player are definite limitations that can be a pain in the butt.
My only hesitation comes from the fact that I would have to plug in 50k words and think about chapters now rather than later when I'm done with the project. It would take me the better part of the evening I think to plug it all in. It might be something better done on the weekend on second thought. It would go faster and I would be more accurate with my hubby taking care of our 14 month old.
Speaking of software: I've finally figured out how to download my documents onto my iPad into Pages, the iPad equivalent of Office Word. It's not very direct and Apple really is into making money since the only way to make a direct save is to go pay for their iDisk service. A whopping $99 per year for the same service that Google offers for free. All in all I love the iPad but the small things like this and flash player are definite limitations that can be a pain in the butt.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Another New Look
So my blog has yet another new look. YAY! I think I'm a little ADD when it comes to how my blogs look. I must change them every three months or so, sometimes more often than that. Well this one I like a lot and will save the template for future use as well. So besides having a new look I'm very pleased to say that I get to go to another of my writing group's meet up. YAY!
From late January to mid April I really wasn't able to attend many of my group's meetings because of work. That then continued into March but then finally in May I was able to go to my first meeting in a while. It felt so good to be with other writers and just be able to write!
Also exciting news for anyone who wants to write a book or has done NaNoWriMo in the past: Camp NaNoWriMo will be launching soon! The long awaited ability to do NaNoWriMo in any month you wish will finally be here! I'm very excited about this since I love NaNo and would willingly do it multiple times a year. I keep looking at the NaNoWriMo website for more information. I'm such a geek!
From late January to mid April I really wasn't able to attend many of my group's meetings because of work. That then continued into March but then finally in May I was able to go to my first meeting in a while. It felt so good to be with other writers and just be able to write!
Also exciting news for anyone who wants to write a book or has done NaNoWriMo in the past: Camp NaNoWriMo will be launching soon! The long awaited ability to do NaNoWriMo in any month you wish will finally be here! I'm very excited about this since I love NaNo and would willingly do it multiple times a year. I keep looking at the NaNoWriMo website for more information. I'm such a geek!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Peer Critique
A week ago now my writing group had its first critique. I was the only one that showed that was due to be critiqued and a good forty-five minutes was taken up critiquing my first ten raw pages of my NaNoWriMo piece. It was amazing to have peers critique my work again. The best part is that the format in which it was done was very cool. Each person was told to read the piece beforehand and have two praise comments and two critique comments ready. The critique itself was more of a conversation between my peers and the author (me) stayed quiet unless asked a question directly. I was made to reserve my questions until the last which made me listen more closely. All in all a great thing.
On the down side. I looked at my file for my story and unfortunately my computer somehow lost twenty thousand words. My guess is that for some reason the document didn't save when I told it to or something. I searched through my email for the copy of the backup and it seems that I may have deleted it on accident. Awesome. Great.
On the up side I did get to order my new computer today! I'm super excited and I can't wait to get it! I have literally been doing a happy dance all day since I ordered it. Well, between bouts of sadness at losing twenty thousand words. Yay!
On the down side. I looked at my file for my story and unfortunately my computer somehow lost twenty thousand words. My guess is that for some reason the document didn't save when I told it to or something. I searched through my email for the copy of the backup and it seems that I may have deleted it on accident. Awesome. Great.
On the up side I did get to order my new computer today! I'm super excited and I can't wait to get it! I have literally been doing a happy dance all day since I ordered it. Well, between bouts of sadness at losing twenty thousand words. Yay!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Writing Group
Yesterday evening saw the first meeting of my new writing group. Which is not to say that I own it or that it was entirely my idea but I will say that I did have something to do with it. Mostly poking my buddy Remy and saying, "hey what about that writing group?" I am very excited and looking forward to our next meeting next Thursday. YAY!
That being said, writing groups are awesome. If you have never been in one and love to write it is a creative idea feeding ground and not to mention free (or mostly free) critiques. It's fabulous. I find that the best things that I've gotten out of writing groups that I've been in are ideas. Other writers are awesome people to talk to if you're stuck in a rut, out of ideas, or just have plain old writer's block. That's my plug for writing groups!
That being said, writing groups are awesome. If you have never been in one and love to write it is a creative idea feeding ground and not to mention free (or mostly free) critiques. It's fabulous. I find that the best things that I've gotten out of writing groups that I've been in are ideas. Other writers are awesome people to talk to if you're stuck in a rut, out of ideas, or just have plain old writer's block. That's my plug for writing groups!
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